Several months ago, I made a list of terms I would NOT use in these COVID-y times. Among them is “the new normal.” But I didn’t promise I wouldn’t use the word “paranormal,” and that’s where we’re venturing today. To get inspired to write this piece, I sat down at my desk at midnight. I was keenly aware of every bump and creak I heard around the house ... and my cat, the amazing Potsticker, nearly scared the beans out of me when he burst through the not-quite-latched door to my office just as I was composing the part about the Huey P. Long Bridge. I jumped, he jumped ... it was dramatic, then funny. Here’s what he and I came up with for your reading pleasure:

This is Potsticker, my most trusted office assistant. He likes to keep an eye on things from the back my chair. He thinks this black-and-white photo makes him look a little eerie, but he’s totally harmless ... and completely afraid of his own shadow. (And bugs. And his squeaky toys. And the super-expensive water fountain I bought him. And pretty much everything else except the jolly, wobbly plastic mouse that dispenses his cat treats.) I’d hate to think what he’d do if he actually saw a ghost. Or a real mouse.

The New (Para)normal Who’s up for Some “Fright-seeing”?

We’ve officially entered fall! Over the past several weeks we’ve shared information about foliage and apples and pumpkins. In October we’ll officially segue over to our holiday programming (don’t turn the channel – you’ll love it!), but before we go full-throttle into turkeys and trimming trees, let’s first touch upon a few ghosts and ghouls. Yeah, you’re right ... 2020 has been plenty scary so far, so we probably don’t need to set anyone’s heart racing with tales from the beyond. But you know what? We represent destinations that are home to some pretty interesting local legends. Whether or not you believe in the otherworldly stuff, we thought it could be fun to share some of the stories we hear when we’re on the road in our client regions. (Ideally in a car on a bright sunny day, with human companions.) It turns out that is a hotbed of hauntings, but Alabama and Jamaica have some of their own tales to tell. So, today we present to you a gaggle of ghosts ... and one creepy critter. Let’s start with him.

As always, if you’d prefer not to receive these weekly messages from MBPR, please just let me know and I’ll remove you from the distribution list. I can’t promise the Rougarou won’t come get you, though.

The Rougarou Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana Louisiana is the land of legends, but one of our favorites is the story of the “Rougarou,” basically the Cajun version of a . The creature falls under the category of “cryptid,” an animal that’s said to exist but for which nobody has been able to offer true proof. He is to Louisiana what Bigfoot is to the Pacific Northwest and what the Loch Ness Monster is to Scotland. The Rougarou is half-man and half-dog, a creature that can stand upright on two legs but which is covered in hair. His face is doglike, featuring intimidating teeth, and his hands sport super-sharp claws. And here’s the kicker: He’s on a mission, looking for misbehaving children. Legend tells us that the Rougarou is most often found wandering in the swamps of southeastern Louisiana or lurking in the region’s many sugar-cane fields. It’s probably no coincidence that the two places that are most dangerous for kids growing up in this region are, in fact, swamps and sugar fields. The legend of the Rougarou stems from medieval French folklore, in which a similar beast called the “Loup-Garou” – combining the French words for “wolf” and “man who transforms into an animal” – taunted French children. The story has been handed down from generation to generation, either from French settlers who arrived in Louisiana or from French-Canadian immigrants, the “” who relocated here in the mid-1700s. “Loup-Garou” became “Rougarou” in Cajun French. The Rougarou is celebrated with his own festival, held in the town of Houma on the last weekend in October. The Rougarou Fest typically features plenty of food, music, crafts and a parade, though this year’s event is being adjusted per new COVID guidelines.

Wait! Is that the Rougarou lurking in the swamps of Terrebonne Parish?

Bayou Sale Road Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana Shifting gears from wolfmen to ghosts, but in the same general vicinity, we have the story of Bayou Sale Road, which connects the small town of Dulac to the little fishing village of Cocodrie (fun fact: THAT word is Cajun for “alligator”). It’s considered Louisiana’s most haunted road, a superlative that may or may not be appealing, depending on how you feel about hitchhiker hauntings. This area has been home to a full array of some of the cultures that make Louisiana such a fascinating and distinctive place, including French settlers, the United Houma Nation and the Biloxi Chitamatcha Choctaw Nation. For years, reports have come in from residents and visitors alike about what appears along this highway on the 10-mile drive between to the two towns. The road is long and curvy and especially creepy at night. Folks say a ghost hitchhiker roams the road, trying to lure drivers to pull over and pick him up. When cars slow down to assist, the ghost often disappears entirely or the occupants of the car see that the pedestrian is, in fact, totally transparent. If that’s not enough to scare you off from picking up hitchhikers in these parts (or anywhere), be warned: if this one enters your car he’ll demand treasures ... or the soul of one of the vehicle’s passengers. It’s a high price to pay in either case.

The Silk Lady Madisonville, Louisiana This specter is always described with the word “silk”: silky hair, silky skin, silk clothing, very long fingernails that – oddly – look like flowing silk, and feet ... well, nobody has seen her feet. It’s like her feet are covered by a silk gown and she just sort of floats along. Residents of the waterfront community of Madisonville, nestled in St. Tammany Parish to the north of New Orleans, have reported seeing her since the mid-1800s. Even a former mayor went on the record about his own terrifying encounter with her. She’s usually spotted in an area called Palmetto Flats. The earliest stories talk about animals acting odd in this area, as if they could see and were feeling threatened by something. In the early days of the sightings, oxen and horses would stampede or buck in Palmetto Flats. As for the people who’ve seen the Silk Lady, they say that she not only floats along – and may grab for you – but that she also makes an odd screaming sound as she moves along. She only seems to appear at night. Nobody knows her name, which is why she’s just “the Silk Lady” around here, but as the story goes, this is the ghost of a young woman who was riding her horse home from a rendezvous with her true love but taking a road less traveled. Her horse was startled – some stories say by a snake – and threw her. The young lady fell and hit her head on a rock – or snapped her neck, depending on which version of the story you hear – and she died alone in the wilderness. Maybe she’s trying to repay that old horse by scaring modern-day animals? Since the 1950s, the area has become very residential; there’s even a Silk Lady Road within the housing developments. Hmm ... imagine buying a house with THAT address! (Actually, it would be quite a nice house, as the homes along the street are lovely, even if they do come with a wandering ghost in the backyard.) A new restaurant that just opened in Madisonville this summer, Tchefuncte’s, has named a drink “The Silk Lady.” It’s a blend of Ford’s Gin, pink peppercorn grapefruit cordial, Campari and St. Germain. It might just knock you off your horse ... or at least on your butt.

Huey P. Long Bridge Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Named for Louisiana’s 40th governor – and perhaps its most infamous – this cantilevered steel bridge has carved out an interesting reputation all its own. The bridge was designed to carry a two-track railroad line and six lanes of vehicular traffic over the Mississippi River. Since it opened in 1935, countless witnesses have claimed to see ghostly apparitions walking along the bridge or climbing beside it. And it may not be just one spirit hanging around; it seems to attract a crowd of creepers. First up is engineer Ralph Modieski, who designed or consulted on several bridges throughout the country, but this one is his most famous masterpiece. Legend has it that his ghost travels back and forth across the United States, continuing to inspect the bridges he designed. Eyewitnesses say they’ve seen a man in period clothing walking along as if examining the entire span of the Huey P. Long Bridge. But he may have some company along his nearly 23,000-foot path. Construction of this magnificent feat of engineering came at a cost, with workers being entombed alive in the giant cement pilings that hold the bridge in place and trestle workers falling to their deaths in the river below. Once the bridge opened, people who attempted to cross it on foot were killed by cars, trucks or trains. Commuters regularly report near-misses with ghostly apparitions – often wearing overalls – who walk along the bridge or simply appear out of thin air. The bridge has developed such a reputation for being haunted that it offers the perfect backdrop – or, perhaps more accurately, overdrop (is that a word?) – for the New Orleans Nightmare haunted house, which sets up underneath the East Bank side of the structure during the Halloween season. The attraction will operate this year, with a complete set of COVID precautions in place.

The Huey P. Long Bridge is an architectural marvel ... but perhaps also home to a bunch of ghosts.

The White Witch of Rose Hall Montego Bay, Jamaica Our client resort in Negril, Sunset at the Palms, can organize a day (or – maybe better – night!) trip to Rose Hall plantation, one of the island’s most famous historic homes. It offers views of Montego Bay that will take your breath away, but it’s also where you can go to get a little tingle up your spine. Tell anyone you’re heading there and they’ll assure you that the beautiful house is haunted by its former mistress, one Annie Parker ... known locally as the “White Witch.” (The property’s golf course shares that nickname.) Annie hailed from Haiti, an orphan raised by a nanny who taught her the finer points of voodoo and . When Annie moved to Jamaica and married the owner of Rose Hall, John Palmer, things started going badly for him. He ended up dead ... as did Annie’s two other husbands. And she didn’t have to be married to them to kill them; she also murdered any number of lovers. Word around the island was that Annie had a horrible violent streak, but she also practiced dark magic. She’d enchant you, you’d fall in love, then you’d fall into your grave. But Annie wasn’t the only person practicing witchcraft around here. A man named Takoo outsmarted Annie and killed her using a combination of his own seductive techniques, dark magic and total violence. Annie is said to be buried on the grounds of Rose Hall, in a tomb that was intended to be sealed in a voodoo ritual designed to keep her spirit contained forever. The ritual was never completed, though, meaning that Annie’s ghost remains free to roam the property. And apparently it does, as there are countless reports of her riding a horse around the plantation or walking along the beautiful home’s balcony. In recent years, a lot of people have tried to debunk the myths surrounding Annie Palmer, finding plenty of history to refute the legends that have been such a big a part of Jamaican culture for decades. But there are still plenty of believers out there. To get the full story in a musical way, take a listen to “The Ballad of Annie Palmer,” written by singer Johnny Cash. He owned Cinnamon Hill Great House, a house near Rose Hall, where Annie’s ghost is also said to appear.

And in conclusion ...

We promised you updates from Southwest Louisiana, which is continuing to recover from the impact of Hurricane Laura, and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama, which were hit by Hurricane Sally. It happens that each area has a haunted site that was impacted by the recent weather events, so these fit nicely with the theme of today’s message. We want to note that the Lake Charles area continues its recovery, but it will still take some time and the region is not yet ready for visitors. You can find updates at this website. On the coast of Alabama, 1,600 utility workers from all over the country have worked hard during the past week to restore almost all power to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, though they still have work to do on the Fort Morgan Peninsula (more about that area in just a bit). Many restaurants, stores and gas stations are already reopening and general cleanup and debris removal is well under way. That said, the area doesn’t plan to welcome visitors back for at least a few more days and asks that people check this website for updates. The beaches are expected to reopen next Friday, October 2. Please keep these areas in your thoughts and know that – unlike all these ghosts you’ve been reading about – these amazing coastal destinations and their residents are still alive and kicking.

Historic Calcasieu Courthouse Lake Charles, Louisiana The original courthouse that stood on this location was destroyed by a fire in 1910; the current structure, a stunning part of Lake Charles’ historic Charpentier District, was built on the site in 1911. This part of the city recently got the full brunt of Hurricane Laura’s impact. Incredibly, the historic oak trees that stand at the front of the building somehow emerged from the storm nearly unscathed. And it appears that the building sustained only some minor water damage to its third floor. That floor is where most of the mysterious things that happen here are reported to take place. The courthouse remains closed as the region recovers, which means that one of Louisiana’s most famous ghosts, Toni Jo Henry, currently has no (living) witnesses to her usual antics. Toni Jo was a convicted murderess known for both her youth and beauty. In 1939, she led officials to a haystack where she and an accomplice had brutally killed a man named Joseph Callaway and then hid his body. Following her sentencing, Toni Jo was confined to a special cell on the third floor of the courthouse until she was ultimately executed in 1942, giving her the distinction of being the first and only woman ever executed by electric chair in Louisiana. She was buried in a local cemetery, Orange Grove, but many believe she’s still lurking around the courthouse. For nearly 80 years, employees have reported hearing a woman’s whispers, footsteps roaming the hallways and even high-pitched screams. Note: Due to Hurricane Laura, this isn’t the right time to visit Lake Charles or its historic courthouse. But do keep it in mind for fright-seeing adventures.

Visitors to and employees at the Historic Calcasieu Courthouse say that the ghost of Toni Jo Henry travels this staircase.

Fort Morgan Historic Site Gulf Coast of Alabama For decades, rumors have circulated about ghosts at Fort Morgan, a star- shaped fort that stands at the mouth of Mobile Bay, a little more than 20 miles from Gulf Shores, Alabama. It first operated during the War of 1812 but has its biggest historic ties to the Civil War. However, it also played roles in both World War I and World War II. That said, there’s been plenty of drama here, and sometimes that can attract spirits looking to settle some unfinished business. Visitors and docents report hearing the screams of men late at night – they believe from the group of soldiers who were killed by a bomb here during the Civil War – while others say that mixed among all the ghosts of men in Confederate uniforms is the spirit of a lone woman who was killed at the fort in the 1800s. As the story goes, she’s looking for her attacker ... and justice, too. Just how haunted is this place? Enough that paranormal investigating teams and shows have visited, resulting in reports of shadow figures, inexplicable noises, strange mists, the sensation of being tapped on the shoulder, and sudden feelings of dread. Last year a new escape room opened here, giving visitors a living history lesson about the fort’s pivotal role during the Civil War. In the Espionage at Mobile Point escape room, visitors are taken back to the summer of 1864. They’re Federal spies who’ve been captured by Confederate soldiers, and they must follow clues to escape from Fort Morgan’s jail. Participants, whose identities are based on actual spies who were at the fort, hone their decision- making skills and learn the importance of trust and teamwork while getting a unique glimpse into the battle. Note: As the region recovers from Hurricane Sally, please check websites for updates about the status of both the fort and escape room.